The Karen Christian Fellowship is led by Rev. Kwew Htoo Khu. 

The Karen Burmese have a dynamic fellowship of over 200 men, women, and children. 

Every Sunday, worship begins at 4:00 p.m. in the gymnasium of the Christian Life Center. Sunday School and activities for children start at the same time.                                             

History & Culture

The Karen Burmese are a minority population from Burma who have been seeking independence in the face of a militant dictatorship for almost sixty years.  While some have participated in liberation armies, most have simply been civilians caught in an increasingly oppressive environment. Though some are Buddhist, most have a strong Christian tradition which also sets them apart from the Burmese majority.  Especially affected are those from rural village areas without access to resources and education.  Most of the Karen come from poor rural backgrounds having grown up in villages in the jungle-filled mountains of southeast Asia.  Most villages were self-sustained, families growing their own food with occasional forays into the town and without modern conveniences such as electricity and plumbing.  Some men held labor jobs in the city or coastal jobs such as fishing (which were actually quite dangerous due to safety hazards and pirate attacks).  Few had education beyond primary school; some none at all.   

Like many other Burmese minorities, the Karen have faced severe persecution because of their desire for independence from the harsh military rule of Burma.  Some tell stories of Burmese soldiers burning their village and forcing them to carry their guns and equipment to the point of exhaustion.  As violence against ethnic civilians has increased, most of the Karen (nearly 120,000) have fled to neighboring Thailand where they have lived in refugee camps for ten or fifteen years. The Burmese government has incited a civil war as well by encouraging a breakaway faction of Karen to fight the others. In the Thai refugee camps, families still face a hard life since food is scarce and the Thai government refuses to grant any additional assistance or permanent placement though one advantage for the children is access to more education. With ongoing insecurity and the inability of the families to return to their homeland, they were finally accepted as a group for resettlement to the United States.  

Given their rural background, the Karen Burmese face many of the challenges of adjustment to life in America that other similar groups have faced: learning the use of modern facilities, adjusting to new rules for the home and childcare, understanding the complexities of city jobs and transportation, and so on.  Since English is such a different language from their own and the families do not readily respond to non-verbal cues, communication can be difficult.

The Karen are a very close community.  Some who came to the United States in the past are really helping the new arrivals.  The Karen are very excited about the freedoms and comforts they find in America and are anxious for their family members to know that all is well here.